Combined Pioneer/Huron Marching Bands - November 15, 1970 @ Michigan Stadium
Final Score: Pioneer 25 Huron 0
My Dad was superintendent of schools and A2 when I was growing up. He remembers the discussions with Don Canham. It was the only time a high school football game would be played in the then 101,001 capacity "Hole that Yost dug, Chrysler built and Canham carpeted." And it was a big deal for us.
I was a drummer in the Pioneer marching band. The Huron game was a chance for us to put on a combined show with our musical rivals from across the river. Vic Bordo would rehearse our half of the formations and Ed Downing would do the same with the Huron band. On Friday afternoon, we would all gather for one run-through at Holway Field, home turf for both schools in the 70s.
I grew up at 907 Granger Street at the corner of East Park Place. William Revelli was our neighbor and we parked cars in our driveway on football Saturdays for 50 cents. I knew every inch of Michigan Stadium. As a kid, I found a way to get into the games for free, roving from section to section amongst the jam packed Wolverine faithful. I dreamed of the day when I could explode out of the tunnel pounding a drum.
That chance came on a Sunday afternoon in 1970. In those days, 9th graders had not yet become a regular presence at Pioneer and we sophomores were in awe of the big school. Dave Owens and Guy Crawford took me under their wings and Joe Zajac and I found ourselves to be the only newbies in the percussion section. We followed tradition and strapped on tenor drums, memorizing cadences and trying to navigate the formations while keeping time with the rest of our thundering herd.
By November we had a modicum of confidence. Vic Bordo's mind was already on a winter concert we were preparing for Hill Auditorium and the Music Educator's National Conference and my sense was that the Pioneer/Huron game at Michigan Stadium was just another requirement he had to fulfill before we got down to the serious business of serious music.
For Joe and me, all that mattered that November day was to live in the moment. The Friday night game was rescheduled to Sunday afternoon. The residue from Saturday's Michigan/Iowa game was still in evidence and we were in competition with an important NFL TV contest between the Lions and the Vikings As the picture shows, even with a record turn out of Pioneer and Huron faithful, the yawning cavern looked pitifully empty. Although it was a day of bright sunshine, the temperatures were in the 40s and the hint of winter was in the air. Our music ricocheted off of the concrete and steel like a poorly designed Fender reverb unit.
But that didn't stop us from putting on the best show of the season. If your heart has ever skipped a beat when your favorite music came on the radio, imagine that feeling times ten, and you'll begin to understand what it's like to create it. In that instant, we were a part of the legacy of our heroes in the Michigan Marching Band: One musical unit performing together at the greatest college football stadium in the world.
Today, the minutia of that moment has faded. I had forgotten that we beat Huron 25-zip and I can't tell you what music we played that day. But the memory of how it felt to be part of an excellent organization striving to be the best is a gift that all of us who were there get to keep forever. I'll always be grateful that music was a priority at the Ann Arbor Public Schools.
Scott Westerman graduated from Pioneer High School in 1973.